Red Raiders try to build on big victory

Don Williams

Friday

Oct 28, 2011 at 10:38 PM

Texas Tech players and coaches couldn't avoid the subject this week, not unless they were blindfolded. Reminders were everywhere they looked in their football building: On the video screen in the lobby. On sheets of paper taped to the doors.

"Last year they embarrassed us up there," Tech safety Brett Dewhurst said, "so we've got to get ready."

Last year's game in Ames was one of the worst the Red Raiders played in an 8-5 season. They gave up four touchdown passes, committed three turnovers, allowed two 100-yard rushers and an onside kickoff return for a TD.

"I felt like I let some of my teammates down," Tech wide receiver Alex Torres said this week. "When something like that happens, there is really no other feeling than just disgust for yourself. That's kind of what I remember from Iowa State."

Besides atonement, the Red Raiders have newfound motivation to beat Iowa State (3-4, 0-4 in the Big 12 Conference) when the Cyclones come into Jones AT&T Stadium for a 6 p.m. game today. Tech (5-2, 2-2) is back in The Associated Press Top 25 at No. 19 and trying to keep the momentum generated by a 41-38 road victory last week at Oklahoma.

"It gives us huge confidence going into the second half of the season," said freshman running back DeAndre Washington, who carried 16 times for 86 yards last week. "In the Big 12, games are not going to get any easier. Winning that game was a huge confidence booster. We're going to thrive on that as we go on and try to make this bowl run."

The game is nationally televised on FSN (Suddenlink), and increased fan interest might be a side benefit for the Red Raiders from what they did last week. The game was nearing sellout status Friday. Jones AT&T Stadium seats 60,454, and Tech has never attracted 50,000 for a home game against Iowa State.

Tech never trailed against OU as quarterback Seth Doege threw for four touchdowns and ran for one, leading an offense that cranked out 572 yards. OU, ranked No. 1 in the coaches poll and No. 3 by the media, was the highest-ranked team the Red Raiders have ever beaten on the road.

As much as he enjoyed it, however, Tech coach Tommy Tuberville said he wasn't deceived by the headline-grabbing upset in Norman. Oklahoma did pile up 536 yards, after all.

"We're not at the promised land. We know that," Tuberville said. "We didn't get fooled by winning that game last week that we're perfect, especially defensively. We went back to our old ways on some series. Hopefully, we can continue to get better."

Iowa State has lost its last four games, but to three ranked teams and one that has been ranked this season. The Cyclones scored fewer than 20 points in three of the four games and have benched Steele Janz, their starting quarterback the first half of the season, in favor of Jared Barnett, a redshirt freshman from Garland.

"We have not played productively as an offensive football team, and a good part of that is your quarterback play," Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads said. "Steele has not played at a level that we see him continuing on as a starter in this game, based especially on what Jared did coming in off the bench versus Texas A&M and Missouri (the last two weeks)."

Barnett led Class 5A Garland to an 11-2 season in 2008 and a 9-2 season in 2009.

In his most extensive college game time to date, Barnett threw for 180 yards and ran for 66 last week in a 33-17 loss to Texas A&M.

"He's made a lot of good decisions," Rhoads said. "He certainly made more good decisions than he did bad decisions over the course of that football game. The fact he's so inexperienced and remains so calm, I think, is a little bit surprising to myself and to our staff."

Barnett has a runner's reputation.

"What they do best is now they've got a quarterback who can run, a lot like Kansas State," Tuberville said. "He's a more athletic type of quarterback. We expect (Janz) to play some. This guy gives them an option of running and (getting) out of the pocket."

He might be the right choice to attack Tech, which has had trouble containing quarterbacks who can run. Nevada's Cody Fajardo rushed for 139 yards on the Red Raiders, and Kansas State's Collin Klein ran for 110 yards and three touchdowns.

"Well, we can't get any worse than how we've played it for a while," Tuberville said. "It all comes down to getting lined up right and tackling. We tackled much better last week. We played better on third down, so it'll be the same (objective) this week."

To comment on this story:

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